Dispensers



up. I

April 16, 1957 B. F. EGGINK DISPENSERS Filed Oct. 18, 1954 IE'IE E INVENTOR. BERNARD E EGG/NK PATENT AGENT United States Patent DISPENSERS Bernard F. Eggink, San Jose, Calif. Application October 18, 1954, Serial No. 462,922

2 Claims. Cl. 222-336) The present invention relates to dispensers and more particularly to dispensers that are operable upon manual actuation to discharge a measured amount of a condiment such as sugar.

There have been proposed many dispensers of the type of the present invention. For various reasons, none have proved too practical. Outstanding among these reasons has been the complexity of the mechanism arranged to efiect the discharge of the sugar or other condiment. This complexity not only renders a dispenser relatively expensive but also presents a dilficult c1ean ing problem; it being understood that any food dispenser must be maintained always in a sanitary condition.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a dispenser for sugar, or the like, which includes a simple dispensing mechanism that can be manipulated with ease and can be cleaned with utmost facility.

It is a feature of the invention to provide a dispenser having a hopper for sugar, or the like, and a simple mechanism for discharging a measured amount of the hopper contents, such dispenser containing a minimum number of parts.

A further feature involves the simplicity with which the parts of the dispenser can be assembled or disassembled.

Another feature concerns the structural arrangement of the operating elements of the dispensing mechanism that both simplifies the dispensing operation and lessens the necessity for the replacement of such elements.

It is yet another feature of the invention to eliminate the possibility of leakage of the contents from the dispenser regardless of use and wear of its parts.

These and other features of the invention, as well as the advantages stemming therefrom, will become more apparent from a perusal of the following description of the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a central sectional view of a dispenser constituting a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and

Fig. 2 is a top view of the dispenser shown in Fig. 1 with its cover removed and parts broken away to illustrate details of construction.

As shown in the drawing, the dispenser includes a cupshaped container that is provided with a suitable cover 12 which seats tightly but removably on the open end of the container. Sugar, powdered cofiee, or other food product can be inserted through this open end of the container 10 to fill a hopper 14 formed in the upper portion of the container above a plate or partition 16. This partition 16 is mounted in an inclined position so that the food product within the hopper 14 will gravitate thereon towards an opening 18 which is adjacent the lowermost portion of the inclined partition 16.

The opening 18 in the partition 16 is adapted to re,- ister with a similarly-shaped opening 20 in the base of an inverted rectangularly-shaped cup 22 that is arranged to function as a measuring valve. For this purpose, the

2 inverted cup 22 is supported for sliding movement between the described partition 16 and a parallel plate 24 which is bent upwardly at one end for rigid attachment 'to the partition. The other end of the plate 24 projects for the measuring valve but also as an effective closure member therefor.

As shown in Fig. 1, the cup or valve 22 can be moved between a filling position, indicated in full lines, where the partition opening 18 and the opening 20 in the base of the inverted cup or valve register; and a discharging position, as indicated in phantom lines, where the openings 18 and 20 no longer register but a portion of the lower, open end of the cup or valve 22.is beyond the projecting end of the supporting plate 24. When the valve 22 is in its filling position, a measured amount of, for example, sugar will gravitate thereinto; when the valve is thereafter moved to its discharging position, the sugar within the valve 22 will fall therefrom and the valve can then be returned to its filling position to be automatically refilled with a second measured quantity of sugar. Since both the partition 16 forming the bottom of the hopper 14 and the plate 24 under the valve *22 are inclined, the sugar will flow both into and out of the valve readily when the container 10 is held in its normal upright position as shown in Fig. 1.

To enable manual actuation of the valve 22, a valve stem 30 is permanently secured to the uppermost end of the valve as indicated at 37 and extends in the direction of valve motion through aligned openings 34 and 36 in the upwardly bent portion of the plate 24 and in the side of the container 10, respectively. A helical spring 38 surrounds the stem 30 within the container 10 and is held compressed between the plate 24 and a sleeve 40. The sleeve 40 loosely encompasses the stem 30 but is held against displacement by a cap 42 that is screwed onto .the threaded end of said stem. The spring action will urge the valve stem 30 and the attached valve to the right as viewed in Fig. 1 so as to maintain the valve 22 normally in its filling position. However the valve 22 can be moved readily to its discharging position by slight finger pressure on the cap 42 on the end of the valve stem 30. When such finger pressure is released, however, the valve will return automatically to its filling position as a result of the described spring action. To facilitate the application of finger pressure, a handle 44 is attached to the exterior of the container immediately beneath the valve stem 30.

The described actuation of the valve can be termed linear; by this term is meant the force applied to actuate the valve 22 is in the direction of its movement. In this manner, pivotal connections and complicated linkages are eliminated so as to minimize the cost, repair, and assembly time of the described dispenser, and particularly the dispensing mechanism, itself.

The disassembly of the dispenser for purposes of cleaning can be described briefly. The cap 42 on the valve stem 30 is unscrewed, whereupon the sleeve 40 and the helical spring can be withdrawn through the opening 36 in the side of the container 10. The valve 22 and valve stem 30 can thereafter be withdrawn as a unit through the opening 26 in the opposite side of the container 10. Such disassembly permits access to all portions of the container which require cleaning and allows the disasf avsaeas sembledtparts to b'e-cleaned individually. After cleaning,. re-assemhly of the dispenser can readily be accomplished by the mere reversal of the order of the described operation for disassembly.

The materialsemployed in-theconstruction of the disthe plate 24 and"t-he -valve 22; constitutemetal stamping stwhich are,readily fabricated and assembled so -as to minimize cost while-simultaneously producing a pleasant appearance and adequate structural rigidity.

Various, alterations and modifications-canobviously be made without departing-from thespirit of the present invention. Asa consequence, the foregoing; description of one-embodiment of the invention is to be considered as purelyexemplary and-'notin a limiting sense; the scope of the invention being indicated by the appendedclaims.

l claimz I r 1'. A dispenser for sugar or the like which comprises a cupeshaped container, an inclined partition supported at an intermediate level within said container to form a hopper thereabove, said partition having an opening therethrough adjacent its lower end, a valve supported beneath said partition for rectilinear movement between filling position and discharging position, said valvehav ing an opening-tin its uppee sideadapted toregister with the opening in said partition when said valve is in its filling position, said container having a first opening in the side thereof through which said valve can move to its discharging position, said container having a second opening in the side opposite to said first opening and aligned therewith along;t h e; direction of movement of said valve, and a member securedto said valve and extending through said second opening to enable manual actuation of valve movement. I V

2. A dispenser according to claim 1 comprising a cap removably secured to-said actuating member exteriorly of said container, and a helical spring arranged to urge said cap in a direction such that said valve is resiliently held in filling position, said second container opening beingsufiiciently large to provide for withdrawal of said helical spring therethrough upon removal of said cap. 7

Long. i vM-ar. 1, 1904 McCord Oct, 2 3, 1923- 

